Chef Sara Moulton Answers Your Cooking Questions

June 08, 2012— -- Celebrated author and TV chef Sara Moulton is the food editor at "Good Morning America."

You've written to her with questions about what you'd like to learn in the kitchen, and she has responded.

Sara Moulton Answers Your Questions

Anita Bloom:I froze fresh blueberries 2 summers ago. They are still frozen. Is it safe to use them in a cake?

Sara's Answer:

Anita,

It probably won't kill you but I'm not sure what the berries will taste like. If it were me, I would give them the old heave ho. The rule for berries is about 6 months in the fridge.Sorry!!

Jennifer Johnson:Hello Sara, How does one brine meat (or make the meat tender and juicy) for a person who is a diabetic and has heart problems? Sincerely, Jennifer Johnson

Sara's Answer:

Jennifer,

I wouldn't recommend brining meat for a diabetic with heart problems because the main ingredient in a brine is salt. Recently I have been using an old trick I learned from Southerners when I did my live show, "Cooking Live," on the Food Network. I discovered from many of them that the key to moist chicken for fried chicken was a buttermilk soak. Why don't you try soaking your meats in buttermilk in the fridge for several hours before cooking them? Just make sure you pat them very dry before sautéing or roasting so they brown nicely. Also, don't overcook the meat, that is another reason it can come out dry, and let it rest before you eat it, 5 minutes for steak, more for larger cuts of meat. The juices will redistribute and the meat will be juicier if you let it rest.

Brian Gray:I have a longtime friend who is a professional chef. Almost every time I ask for one of his recipes, he begins with "First make aroo"... Now EVERYONE knows that "aroo" is the sound that an elephant makes when he/she is irritated! The rest of the recipe never makes it into the conversation because of the inevitable laughter. Please, please, define "aroo" for me and how to make it. Thanks you, Brian Gray

Sara's Answer:

Brian,

Aroo is a roux, a French word for a mixture of fat and flour. It is used to thicken sauces. It is probably what you or whoever prepares the gravy at Thanksgiving, makes in the roasting pan to thicken the sauce. I like to use equal amounts of fat and flour. Let's say I want to make 2 cups of sauce. I will need 3 tablespoons of butter (oil, any fat) and 3 tablespoons of flour. First I melt the butter in saucepan over low heat, then I add the flour and whisk for several minutes to cook the flour. Then I add the 2 cups of liquid (I find it easier to incorporate if it is heated first), in a stream whisking, and simmer the sauce for several minutes to get rid of the raw flour taste. So the general ratio for a medium thick sauce is 1 ½ tablespoons each of fat and flour for every cup of liquid.

Ira Katzin:I wanted to make a New York Cheese cake on the weekend but it ended up being more "custardy" than dense and the top was lightly brown rather than being white. To enhance the flavor I added some lemon curd. What did I do incorrectly? Ira Katzin

Sara's Answer:

Ira,

I hate to tell you but I think that lemon curd for flavor was the culprit. A cheesecake sets because there is the right proportion of eggs, if you throw in something else, even lemon curd which is thickened, it can throw off the thickening power. But happily, here is a link to a cheesecake from Gourmet Magazine, featured on Epicurious which has a lemon curd swirl in it. Why don't you try this?

Helen Clanan:How do you blanch. For example how do you blanch tomatoes. Do you just boil water, drop the veggie in the boiling water,. How long does it stay in the boiling water.

Sara's Answer:

Helen,

Blanch means to cook briefly in water. Generally it implies that there will be further cooking done later on. In the case of tomatoes, they are blanched in order to remove the skin. You should remove the brown "belly button" where the stem was attached to the tomato, and score the tomato at the other end with the tip of a paring knife in a criss cross pattern. Then bring a pot of water to a boil and drop the tomatoes in, in batches. After 30 seconds take one out and see if the skin is beginning to curl back at the criss cross cut. If it is, take the tomato out and put it into ice water. Leave it for a few minutes and then peel it. The riper the tomato, the quicker the peel will come off. If it does not look like the peel is loosened after 30 seconds put the tomato back in for a little while longer.

For more great recipes from Sara check out her website or follow her on Twitter: @saramoulton